Horrible Nightmare
by Hallow Sisters On My Mind
Summary: Ethel has a nightmare when she is attached to Mildred with the friendship trap. WW 2017. Oneshot.


A/N: I got this idea from Series Two Episode Two: The Friendship Trap. Ethel to me seemed quite distressed when she was asleep so here you go. I do not own the Worst Witch or the characters.

* * *

 **Horrible Nightmare**

It was night-time at Cackles Academy and Ethel Hallow and Mildred Hubble were both asleep in Ethel's bedroom. The girls had no choice in this matter as their headteacher had set a friendship trap on them so they were joined at the arm, this meant they were both asleep in their uniforms in Ethel's bed.

Ethel snored loudly and made a distressed noise in her sleep before turning over and knocking Mildred out the bed meaning Mildred now how to sleep on the floor. The girl was just about to try get comfortable when she heard Ethel talking.

"M...mm no..." the girl said quietly and Mildred looked up at the girl as she spoke in her sleep. Mildred rolled her eyes and tried to fall asleep in the corner.

"No...please...Esmie..." Ethel said in her sleep clearly distressed and Mildred realised then she was having a nightmare. Mildred looked up at the blonde and saw how upset she looked and felt really bad for the girl at that moment.

"Esmerelda...no Esmerelda...no...NO!" Ethel said loudly in her sleep causing Mildred to jump as she shouted out the last word.

"No please...please...ESMERELDA NO ESMIE" The girl shouted out as tears streamed down her face clearly the nightmare really upsetting her. Mildred did not know if she should wake her or not and could do nothing more but stare at her.

Ethel started to cry properly then. Softly but she was still crying as she said her sister's name and Mildred could not bare to watch anymore. She stood up awkwardly considering she was joined to Ethel and shook her awake with her free arm.

"Ethel" Mildred said shaking the blonde girl who continued to cry really distressed.

"ETHEL" Mildred shouted and that was the one which shook Ethel awake. The girl woke, her eyes still wet with tears and looked at Mildred in the darkness with a hopeful look.

"Esmie" she said unable to see it was Mildred in the darkness.

"It is me Mildred, you were having a nightmare" Mildred told the girl with a small smile.

Mildred expected a lot of things then. She expected Ethel to yell at her, become embarrassed and pretend she was fine or to tell her to leave her alone. What she did not expect though was Ethel to full on panic.

* * *

"Esmie...where is Esmie...I need to rescue her...where is she?" Ethel said rambling and not making much sense.

"At your house I assume?" Mildred replied trying to be helpful as she knew the older girl was at home and not at Cackles.

"No Esmie...I need to rescue her...the school collapsing...I can't reach" Ethel said her breathing getting more ragged as she looked around frantically and Mildred really panicked then thinking she was about to have a panic attack.

"Ethel breathe, slowly in and out" Mildred said trying to calm the girl down. She breathed slowly, got her breathing under control and burst into tears. Mildred moved to sit next to her and spoke gently.

"It was only a nightmare Ethel, your sister is home safe" Mildred told Ethel trying to reassure her, but, the girl shook her head not convinced.

"What happened?" Mildred asked thinking she might be able to calm her more if she knew what had happened.

"Esmie was a trophy...only I couldn't rescue her, everytime I got close to her she would move further away...and then the building was collapsing and it fell on her and..." Ethel said crying all over again and Mildred now felt awful for Ethel. It must be horrible seeing a family member die, even in a nightmare.

"It won't stop..." Ethel then said confusing Mildred.

"What won't stop?" Mildred asked the blonde not understanding.

"The nightmare, I have it every night...I lose her every night" Ethel said looking down sadly.

Mildred felt so sad in that moment. She knew Esmerelda had given her magic to Agatha and it was mainly Ethel's fault for tricking her, but even that does not mean Ethel deserves to watch her sister die every night.

"I promise you Esmerelda is fine, she is still alive and she is probably worrying about you as well, I will tell you what I was going to go mirror my mother tomorrow first thing but you can mirror Esmerelda first to see for yourself, what do you normally do when you have this dream?" Mildred asked curiously.

"At school...I cry" Ethel admitted "At home I always run to her room to check she is still there and breathing" Ethel then admitted and Mildred knew then Ethel was mentally suffering way more than she was letting on.

"Well trust me when I say Esmerelda is just fine, it was only a dream, you did rescue her and she turned back into a human" Mildred told Ethel who nodded slowly.

"Try go back to sleep" Mildred told her as she yawned and went and lay on the bed.

"Mildred...thanks" Ethel said with a smile to the girl.

"You are welcome" the brunette said.

* * *

The next morning Ethel went and mirrored her sister biting her lip as she did so, Mildred and her had broken the friendship trap once they rescued Sybil last night from the fire so she was alone. Esmerelda was sat at her desk reading so did not see her.

"Esmerelda!" Ethel said beaming from ear to ear as she saw her.

Esmerelda turned saw her sister beaming at her and laughed, always one to be cheered up when she got to speak to her sisters.

"I didn't know it was so exciting to see me" Esmerelda replied chucking as she went and sat down to talk to Ethel.

"Sorry..." Ethel said her smile dropping at that moment "I had that nightmare again" Ethel told her sister.

Esmerelda's smile fell as well then. She knew how much this recurring nightmare was bothering Ethie and that it scared her everytime. This was not to big a deal during the summer as Esmerelda would sit and cuddle her until she fell asleep but now she was at school she was scared all the time. All she could do was reassure her sister she was alright.

* * *

When Ethel had finished mirroring her sister she knocked on Mildred's door and walked in when Mildred said she could.

"Thanks for giving me your mirror slot..." Ethel told her shyly.

"No problem...did you see your sister?" Mildred asked hoping the older girl had been home.

"Yes we spoke for a while, I am sorry for freaking out so much" Ethel replied and Mildred looked at her with a smile.

"Don't worry, I think I would have to if it was my mum in the nightmare" Mildred replied smiling at the blonde.

The girls smiled at each other hoping this was beginning of a friendship and they could learn to get on.


End file.
